Ebola Outbreak Spreads to New Areas as Deaths Soar Past 600

The total number of confirmed cases in Congo is now up to 1,759, with 600 having died.

Health workers at Evangelical Medical Center in Bunia, Congo, on July 3, 2026. Dirole Lotsima Dieudonne/AP Photo

Suspected and confirmed Ebola cases have been reported in parts of Congo not previously affected by the growing Ebola outbreak in the central African country, authorities said on July 9, as the number of confirmed deaths exceeded 600.

Two confirmed cases have been reported in the province of Tshopo, Congo’s Ministry of Communications said in a Thursday statement. One case is linked to the Nia-Nia health zone in Ituri province, where the bulk of the cases have occurred.

The other case “has no apparent geographical connection to known outbreaks,” according to the ministry.

Congolese authorities also say suspected cases have been recorded in Haut-Uele province, though it was unclear how many have been reported. Authorities were investigating.

Suspected cases are updated to confirmed cases if laboratory testing confirms the presence of Ebola, officials have said. If Ebola testing returns negative, the cases are removed from the case count.

Cases have previously been confirmed in the provinces of Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu in eastern Congo, as well as in neighboring Uganda.

The total number of confirmed cases in Congo is now up to 1,759, with 600 having died, authorities said on Thursday. The number of deaths was up by nearly 100 in just three days.

Seven hundred and fifty of the patients are being cared for, and 250 others have recovered.

Uganda has confirmed 20 cases and two deaths.

The outbreak was detected in mid-May, and a number of international and national groups have surged to the area to try to contain the spread of Ebola, a disease caused by orthoebolaviruses. The current outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo ebolavirus.

There are no vaccines or treatments validated for Ebola, but a clinical trial began in Congo earlier in July to test experimental drugs.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said this week that the outbreak was still expanding and unstable, in part due to ongoing population movements.

“The outbreak, unfortunately, continues to expand, and its true scale has not yet been fully established,” Anne Ancia, the WHO’s representative to Congo, told reporters from Bunia in Ituri province.

Dr. Wessam Mankoula, a medical epidemiologist with the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said during a briefing on Thursday that the outbreak is “the fastest growing Ebola outbreak ever on the continent.”

Data on the outbreak indicates the number of cases will double in the next 28 days, he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.